THE STORY OF THE 

==PEQUOT WAR^ 




BY THOMAS EGLESTON, LLD.. PH.D. 



READ BEFORE 

THE NEW YORK SOCIETY 

OF THE 

ORDER OF THE FOUNDERS AND 
PATRIOTS OF AMERICA 



DECEMBER 15, 1905. 



No. 12 



THE STORY OF THE 

sePEQUOT WAR== 




BY THOMAS EGLESTON, LLD., PH.D. 



READ BEFORE 

THE NEW YORK SOCIETY 

OF THE 

ORDER OF THE FOUNDERS AND 
PATRIOTS OF AMERICA 



DECEMBER 15, 1905. 



"Mtx&fz&t fax @ott anfl efotrotes. 



Gift 
The Society 



NOTE. 



This paper was prepared by our late Associate Thomas 
Egleston, LL.D., Ph.D., at the request of the Society. It was 
not read at the meeting for which it was intended, owing to the 
lamented death of Dr. Egleston, a few days prior thereto. 

The manuscript as finished by Dr. Egleston, without any 
subsequent alteration or revision, was read for the first time at a 
meeting of the New York Society of the Order of the Founders 
and Patriots of America, held at the Hotel Manhattan, New York, 
Dec. 15, 1905, by Associate Theodore Gilman, Secretary General, 
and its publication in pamphlet form was directed by the Society. 



THE NEW YORK SOCIETY 

OF THE 

Order of the Founders and Patriots of America 



OFFICERS 

FOR THE YEAR ENDING APRIL I9, I906 

Governor 
THEODORE FITCH 

Deputy Governor 
WALTER SETH LOGAN 

Chaplain 

Rev. EDWARD PAYSON JOHNSON, D.D. 

Secretary 
HOLLISTER LOGAN 

Treasurer 

GEORGE CLINTON BATCHELLER 

State Attorney 
HENRY WICKES GOODRICH 

Registrar 
WINCHESTER FITCH 

Genealogist 
CLARENCE ETIENNE LEONARD 

Historian 
HENRY LINCOLN MORRIS 

Councillors 

Hon. WILLIAM WINTON GOODRICH 

Col. RALPH E. PRIME 

WILLIAM ALLEN MARBLE 

THEODORE GILMAN 

HOWARD SUMNER ROBBINS 

JAMES LE BARON WILLARD 

Col. HENRY W. SACKETT 

EDWARD HAGAMAN HALL 

COLGATE HOYT 



Ladies and Gentlemen and Associates of the Order of the 
Founders and Patriots of America. 

At the time of the coming of the colonists to New England, 
the whole of that country and a considerable part to the north 
and west and south of it was occupied by the Algonquin family 
of Indians. In the midst of the Algonquin territory, and occupy- 
ing the lake country of New York and most of the rest of the 
State and part of New Hampshire and western Connecticut, was 
a family composed at first of five confederate tribes known as 
the Five Nations, and afterwards as the Six Nations, when they 
were joined by the Tuscaroras, and these confederate tribes 
were called the Iroquois. These tribes, as the Six Nations, were 
the Mohawks, the Cayugas, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the 
Senecas and the Tuscaroras. They were all warlike and power- 
ful and had to do with most of the Indian wars at the time. 

There were at this time three very powerful and warlike tribes 
in the south-eastern and south-western portion of New England, 
who occupied the whole country from Rhode Island to the 
Hudson. These were the Narragansetts and the Pequots, who 
lived east of the Connecticut River, and the Mohawks, who lived 
on the west of it. 

At this time the great majority of the Indian tribes of Con- 
necticut presented the pitiful spectacle of large and capable 
nations in a state of abject fear and submission to two powerful 
and savage tribes who were their implacable enemies. 

Those tribes living in the eastern part of the Connecticut col- 
ony were subject to the Pequots, a branch of the Mohawks, who 
occupied the country from the Connecticut River and a little 
beyond it towards the east. They had seceded from an inland 
tribe and had come down the Connecticut River some time be- 
fore from the interior part of the country, and had conquered 
the tribes who lived on the route to their journey, one after an- 
other, making them all tributary. The name " Pequot " in the 
Indian language means "destroyers/' and it is probable that it 
was given them by their less powerful enemies. Taking pos- 



6 



session of the best lands, they drove out the original tribes 
with great cruelty and established themselves along the coast 
from Nehantic on the west to Rhode Island on the east. They 
made their principal settlement on and about the river which 
they called the Pequot River, now known as the Thames, 
twelve miles to the east of the Connecticut. But no sooner were 
they permanently settled there than a part of the tribe, who 
afterwards called themselves the Mohegans, revolted from them. 
They had been previously throughly disaffected, and when they 
broke away from the Pequots they became not only their enemy 
but their rival. They established themselves west of the Pequots 
in the lower Connecticut valley. They were a small but very 
brave tribe. Their head sachem was Uncas, who, although he 
had through both his father and his mother the royal blood of 
the Pequots and had married the daughter of Tatobam, their 
former sachem, was a dangerous enemy to his native tribe. 
He was very friendly to the white settlers, hoping that they would 
form an alliance with him against the Pequots. North of the 
Pequots were the miserable villages of the Nipmucks. 

The Narragansetts occupied the western shores of the country 
from Narragansett Bay to the Pawtucket River. They held the 
whole of Rhode Island and a part of Long Island. They were 
the most civilized of all the Indian tribes. Their head Sachems 
were Canonicus and Miantonomo. They held in partial subjec- 
tion the Niantics near Point Judith, whose head sachem was 
Ninigret. They were a large and most formidable tribe, warlike, 
brave and ferocious. They asserted their pre-eminence in New 
England and were fast gaining control throughout that territory. 
They had the reputation of being of superior warlike ability 
and were the only tribe who were able to resist the Pequots. 
They had preserved their independence with great difficulty, 
and between these two tribes a bitter feud existed. 

The scattered tribes on the west of the Connecticut River were 
tributary to the Mohawks. If they neglected to pay the tribute, 
the Mohawks fell upon them without mercy. The Nipmucks 
and Mohegans were only able to insure forbearance by a yearly 
payment of blackmail. Each summer two Mohawk elders came, 
perfectly secure in the fear which their name inspired, and seized 
the tribute of weapons and wampum and proclaimed the last 
harsh edict issued by the savage council at Onondaga. Their 



7 



visits were nowhere more unwelcome than among the Mohegans, 
who were ground down between the Mohawks and the Pequots. 
As soon as the Connecticut Indians discovered their approach, 
an alarm was sounded from hill to hill. If the Indians when 
pressed could not escape to their town forts, they would in- 
variably fly to the colonists for shelter. Not infrequently the 
Mohawks would follow them in their flight, pressing on them so 
closely as often to kill them in the houses of the colonists in the 
presence of the family. The Indians of the Connecticut River 
country believed that with their guns the white men were in- 
vincible, and they hoped that under such protection the Pequots 
and the Mohawks would no longer be able to oppress them. 

At the time of the arrival of the English, the Pequots were the 
strongest and most formidable tribe in this section. Their chief 
sachem was Sassacus. They raided the Dutch settlements, made 
war against the Narragansetts, and by their conquests struck 
terror into the less powerful tribes, over whom they had gained 
dominion by their exactions and extreme cruelties. They had 
been entirely unaffected by the great pestilence which had killed 
so many Indians in 1616 and 1617, and which had swept out of 
existence an entire family of Algonquins, known as the Mas- 
sachusetts tribe, who were said to have been able to muster as 
many as 3000 fighting men. The pestilence had also seriously 
affected many other tribes. There were two of these pestilences, 
one in 1617, which was infectious but the exact nature of it is 
unknown, while that of 1633 and 1634 was undoubtedly smallpox. 

At first the settlers were not interfered with by the Indians. 
The treaty made by the English with Massasoit was most scrupu- 
lously observed by the Wampanoags and kept on both sides 
during 54 years. The smaller tribes of Massachusetts remained 
on friendly terms with the whites because they wished their 
aid in case of war with their hereditary enemies, the Tarran- 
tines. It was only when the English began to leave the coast 
for the interior and commenced to aid the weaker tribes, some 
of whom had appealed to them for protection in 1631, that the 
Pequots arose in open hostility against them. 

It has been asserted many times that the dislike of the Indians 
to the whites, and their savagery, was caused by the fact that 
their lands were taken without equivalent by the English. The 
Rev. Increase Mather, writing upon this subject, says: "The 



8 



English did not possess one foot of land in this colony, but what 
was fairly obtained by honest purchase of the Indian proprie- 
tors." However small the compensation which the Indian re- 
ceived for the land, it was, as a general thing, all that the land 
was then worth, and it would never have been of any greater 
value in the hands of the Indians. In order to be sure that they 
were treated fairly, a law was made by the colonial government 
" that no one should purchase, or receive a gift of any lands 
of the Indians, without the knowledge and allowance of the 
Court, and a penalty of five pounds per acre for all that should 
be so bought was imposed." It was also provided by law that 
if any lands had been taken from the Indians without a proper 
equivalent, the offenders should be forced to surrender them to 
the Indians again, beside paying a fine to the colony, so that the 
complaint was frequently made that in matters of this kind 
there was no justice except for the Indian. 

It is very easy to understand how the contempt which the In- 
dians sometimes showed to the whites grew. When the whites 
first arrived, the Indians were astonished to see men with a differ- 
ent colored skin from themselves, with great prowess, owing 
to weapons with which they were entirely unfamiliar, and looked 
upon them as creatures of different flesh and blood from them- 
selves, with a prowess which it was useless to try to combat. 
But after awhile they saw that the white men were as susceptible 
to wounds and pain and other injuries as themselves, and that 
their own race was physically superior. 

The Pequots were a very treacherous tribe. It was not always 
easy to catch them red-handed, but their enmity to the whites 
became more and more manifest as the country became more 
settled. They made treaties with the English, not for the purpose 
of peace and friendship, but with the intent of lulling them into 
security. As soon as a treaty was made they began to study how 
they might evade its provisions and find an excuse or a plausible 
pretext for breaking it. They studied how they might lay infrac- 
tions of it at the door of some one else and give cause for an 
attack on an innocent tribe, weaker than themselves. Whatever 
their policy was, treachery was always at the bottom of it. 

They were renowned throughout New England for their 
bravery, their extreme cruelty and their ferocity. They de- 
lighted in torture of every kind, which was always inflicted with 



9 



a fiendish pleasure, and when they had learned English enough 
to do so they recited to their maimed captives in detail all the 
tortures they intended to inflict upon them, so as to make them 
more terrible by anticipation. 

They were really a great people, strongly fortified, cruel and 
warlike, well furnished with all the Indian weapons and mu- 
nitions of war. The tortures which they inflicted were terrible, 
both on their Indian enemies and on the colonists. Some of 
them they flayed alive, others they roasted alive, cutting out bits 
of the roasted flesh of their victims and forcing it down their 
throats while they were still living, and inflicting many other 
tortures equally horrible. 

At first the Indians had no practice of scalping. Their method 
of showing their victory over their enemies was to cut off their 
hands and feet, because it was a sure method of killing, and also 
because, by cutting off the hands and feet only, they could pro- 
long the torture which they wished them to suffer. They were 
encouraged in the practice of scalping by the French, who, 
when they became skillful in doing it, sent an expert scalper to 
France and introduced him to the king, to whom he declared 
that he had with his own hand killed and scalped over 100 
Englishmen. 

The Pequots seem to have had some superstition that they 
should meet with great danger from the whites, that their power 
over other tribes would be reduced by them, or that the tribes 
now in complete subjection to them would seek the whites as 
allies, which they did, so that their enmity to the colonists became 
continually more and more open, until at length they were sure 
they could overcome them as they had done the Indians, or 
better, exterminate them altogether. 

In 1633 they numbered at least 700 warriors, and at that time 
the colonists numbered less than 200. They were a very proud 
race and were constantly asserting, "We are Pequots and have 
killed Englishmen and can kill them as mosquitos, and we will 
go to Connecticut and kill the men, women and children, and 
carry away their horses, cows and hogs." 

As early as 1630 complaints of the Pequots had been made to 
the Governor of the colony, but it was not until 1634 that they 
began to be so troublesome as to cause anxiety. 

In 1633 Captain Stone of Virginia, with a crew of seven men, 



IO 



and Captain John Norton, who was either associated with him 
in trade or was a passenger, were going up the Connecticut 
river in a small vessel to trade with the Dutch at their station at 
Hartford. They were killed by the Pequots and their boat sunk 
and their goods stolen. Captain Stone's reputation among the 
colonists was not good. He had committed some outrages 
against the Dutch and was even accused of piracy. It was 
known that he had some trouble with the Pequots, and when 
they were called to account for the murder they claimed that it 
had been .committed in self defence. The magistrates accepted 
their excuses conditionally, but demanded that the murderers 
should be given up, which the Pequots promised but did not do. 
They insisted that only two of those who had taken part in the 
murder were left, the leader having been killed by the Dutch and 
the rest having died of smallpox, and the claim does not seem 
to have been pressed against them with any great energy. 

In 1634 the Pequots were involved in a quarrel with the Dutch 
and were also menaced by the Narragansetts. They could not 
afford to be at the same time on bad terms with the English, and 
sent an embassy to Boston to seek an alliance with them. They 
promised to give up the two surviving murderers, to pay a large 
tribute of furs and wampum, and to grant all the land needed 
by the settlers in Connecticut. A treaty for friendly commerce 
was made and the English promised to send a ship to trade with 
them. They also promised to negotiate a treaty of peace be- 
tween them and the Narragansetts. This was successfully ac- 
complished, and as the Pequots were no longer hampered by 
war or the fear of it, they paid no further attention to their 
promises to the colonists. The murderers were not given up 
and the tribute of furs and wampum was not paid. 

In 1635 a small fort was erected at the mouth of the Connec- 
ticut River by Lyon Gardiner, a Scotch engineer, who had been 
brought over by the younger Winthrop when he came to act as 
Governor of the territory. Lieutenant Gardiner had had some 
military experience in the Low Countries under Sir Thomas 
Fairfax and was considered a very skillful man. Around this 
fort a few colonists had collected, and the garrison of the fort 
consisted at first of only 20 men. The place was called Saybrook 
from Lord Say and Sele and Lord Brook, to whom the territory 
had been granted. It was well understood by the Indians that 



1 1 



the fort at Saybrook was a part of a general system adopted by 
the colonists who were endeavoring to establish themselves in 
the country, and they directed their attacks upon it. In the fall 
of 1635, and through the following winter, squads of Pequotswere 
lurking in the forest about the fort, never attempting to take it, 
but watching to murder and scalp anyone who might be passing 
or who might have come out of the fort unguarded. 

In the same year, 1635, parties went overland from Massachu- 
setts and settled Windsor on the Connecticut River, above the 
Dutch fort at Hartford, and about the same time Hartford and 
Wethersfield were settled. The Pequots interfered in every way 
with the emigrants going overland and rendered trade by sea 
very dangerous. In this year two English castaways were 
killed by the Pequots on Block Island, and other outrages were 
committed on the English settlements in the Connecticut valley. 

In July, 1636, the Indians at Block Island, which was under 
the jurisdiction of the Narragansetts, killed John Oldham, one 
of a party of traders from Massachusetts, with all his company 
(how many is not known), in the most treacherous way. He was 
one of the most enterprising and adventurous of the colonists 
and had been in the habit of trading with the Indians on a large 
scale. He came with a boat to Block Island to trade. The 
Indians came into his boat under the pretence of trading, and as 
soon as they had an opportunity, knocked him on the head and 
endeavored to make off with the boat, but were prevented by the 
Captain of a passing vessel, John Gallup, who, seeing that the 
boat was in inexpert hands, captured it, killing some of the 
Indians. John Oldham was a man of good ability but of bad 
temper. He had excited the jealousy of the Indians, which was 
the reason why he was killed and his goods stolen. He had 
with him fifty pounds in gold pieces. Some of these the Indians 
used as ornaments, making holes through them so as to wear 
them around their necks, and some of them they sold to the 
Dutch at a price far below their value. For this deed the 
Indians professed to be penitent, offered to make reparation and 
promised to deliver up the murderers, who were believed to be 
some of their principal men; but they did not keep any of these 
promises. 

The Council of Massachusetts Bay determined to avenge the 
murder. They first sent an embassy to Canonicus, the chief 



12 



sachem of the Narragansetts, to whom the Block Island Indians 
were subject. The Governor demanded of Canonicus that he 
should give up the murderers of Captain Stone and John Oldham 
and surrender the goods which had been taken from the two 
vessels. On the return of the embassy they reported that they 
believed the old sachem to be not only honest but very kindly 
disposed. He sent word to the Governor that he had sent 
Miantonomo with a very strong force to punish the Block Island- 
ers. Notwithstanding this, Massachusetts determined to send 
an expedition under Captain Endicott, with Captain Turner and 
Captain Underhill and 100 well equipped men in three vessels. 
The expedition was fitted out by Governor Vane, who had suc- 
ceeded Governor Winthrop. The commission was to land on 
Block Island and kill all the Indians they could find, but to spare 
the women and children and bring them away captive, and then 
to go to the Pequots and demand the surrender of the murderers 
and a thousand fathoms of wampum in reparation and some of 
their children as hostages, and if they refused, to take them by 
force. 

They sailed on August 24th, 1636, taking two Indian guides 
with them, and arrived at Block Island on the 31st. They 
found two large settlements, three miles apart, and about sixty 
wigwams. Coming to anchor before the island, they saw only 
one Indian, walking on the shore. Knowing their treachery, 
they went ashore in a shallop with a dozen armed soldiers and 
as soon as they came near to the landing place 50 or 60 Indians 
appeared and attacked them with bows and arrows. The wind 
was so strong that they did not dare land from the boat, but 
waded to the shore in water up to their waists, when the Indians 
fled and left all their supplies and provisions and made no at- 
tempt to defend either themselves or their houses. The next 
day not an Indian was to be found, as they had concealed them- 
selves in the swamps. The day was spent in burning and 
destroying the property they found. They did no damage to 
the plantation that day, but the next day they burned it. They 
then crossed to the main land to demand that the Pequots 
should deliver up the murderers, who were supposed to have 
taken refuge with them. They demanded to see Sassacus or 
some of the other sachems, and were told that they were away 
from home. Afterwards the messenger acknowledged that they 



i3 



were not away, and said that they would soon appear. After a 
long delay and many excuses, it was found that the Indians had 
sent away their women and children and were burying their 
movable possessions and preparing to fight. They finally said 
plainly that they had no intention of holding a parley, and the 
soldiers then attacked them, went to their town and burned all 
their wigwams, destroyed their canoes, dug up the goods they 
had buried and spoiled their property as far as they could. As 
the corn had not been harvested, they could not destroy it, but 
they did as much damage to it as possible. The next day they 
went ashore on the west side of the Connecticut River and 
destroyed some of the wigwams and canoes which they found 
there. The expedition arrived in Boston in September without 
the loss of a single man, having had only one man wounded 
and having killed a number of Indians. 

This attack on the Pequots only enraged them and incited 
them to further outrages. They earnestly solicited the Nar- 
ragansetts to join them in a war of extermination against the 
English, representing that it was not necessary for them to come 
to an open fight with the colonists, but that they should lie in 
ambush and shoot them as they walked about and fire their 
houses and barns and kill their cattle, so that they should either 
be exterminated or forced to leave the country, while the Indians 
would not be exposed to any great risk. In spite of the strong 
hereditary enmity of the Narragansetts against the Pequots, 
these arguments came very near being successful, as they waited 
some time before making their decision and probably would 
have made it in favor of the Pequots, had it not been for their 
great friendship for Captain Mason, and the arguments of Roger 
Williams, who was the first to make the colonial government 
aware of the threatened conspiracy against them. The magis- 
trates of Massachusetts so earnestly solicited his mediation with 
the Narragansetts that at the risk of his life Williams went to 
these Indians while the Pequot deputies were there urging the 
alliance with their tribe, and dissuaded the Narragansetts from 
making any alliance with them. Afterwards, in October, 1636, 
when the Pequots had committed many outrages, Roger 
Williams persuaded the Narragansett chief, Miantonomo, with 
the two sons of Canonicus and a number of other adherents, to 
go to Boston and conclude with the authorities there a treaty of 



14 



perpetual peace and alliance with the colonists, in which it was 
stipulated that neither party without the consent of the other 
should make peace with the Pequots. The treaty was made by 
Williams and written in English, and as the magistrates could 
not explain it to the Indians, Williams was sent to do so, which 
he did to the satisfaction of both parties. On account of the in- 
valuable services which he had rendered to the Massachusetts 
colony in the case of the Pequots, it was proposed that Williams 
should be recalled from banishment and that some distinguished 
mark of appreciation should be given to him, but the project 
was defeated and the subject passed over as a matter of course. 

The Mohegans were also solicited by the Pequots to join the 
combination against the English, but their chief, Uncas, was 
friendly to the whites and prevented it. 

Having failed in forming any alliance with the other tribes, 
the Pequot chiefs determined to carry on the war alone. They 
attacked the fort at Saybrook and murdered and savagely tor- 
tured a number of the whites in that vicinity, keeping the fort 
in an almost constant state of siege, and spreading terror 
throughout the settlements in the Connecticut River Valley. 

About two miles distant from the Saybrook fort there was a 
house garrisoned by soldiers. They were specially charged not 
to go beyond musket shot of the house, but three of them did. 
The Indians took two of the three alive ; the third escaped to the 
fort very badly wounded. The next day the English deserted 
the house and went to the fort, whereupon the Indians burned 
the house and two other houses in the vicinity, but were kept off 
from the fort by the discharge of large guns. 

Foraging parties were always in danger of attack. Some men 
who were in vessels went ashore to load corn, when they were 
set upon, so that they were obliged to leave the corn and take 
to their arms. One Indian was killed and two of the English 
wounded. The Indians then attempted to take the vessel, but 
were driven off. The following day, men going to collect hay 
were attacked and one man taken, whom they roasted alive. 
They shot another with five arrows and he died after fourteen 
days of great agony. The rest of the party escaped. 

Winthrop's Journal gives the following account of the murder 
of John Tilley, who was a Windsor man : " About the middle of 
October, 1636, John Tilley, master of a bark coming down the 



Connecticut River, went on shore in a canoe three miles above 
the fort at Saybrook to kill fowl, and having shot off his piece, 
many Indians arose out of the covert and took him and killed 
another who was in the canoe. This Tilley was a very stout 
man and of great understanding. They cut off his hands and 
after cut off his feet. He lived three days after his hands were 
cut off, and themselves confessed that he was a stout man be- 
cause he cried not in his torture." 

In February, the Lieutenant at the fort at Saybrook with ten 
soldiers went to fire the weeds on the meadows to fit them for 
mowing. Presently he started three Indians, who led him into 
an ambush, where there were several hundred savages. They 
killed three of the soldiers and wounded one so badly that he 
died when he arrived at the fort. The eight fought with their 
swords and got under the protection of the cannon of the fort. 
The Indians then besieged the fort. 

Lieutenant Gardiner, who had built the fort, commanded it, 
and through that long, dreary winter he was obliged to be on 
his guard day and night, and to prohibit any one going out of 
the fort without special permission or escort. 

Throughout the winter of 1636-37 the Connecticut towns were 
kept in a constant state of alarm. Men going to work were 
horribly mangled and in one case roasted alive. 

A shallop going down the Connecticut with three men rowing 
was attacked. One man was shot through the head and fell 
from the boat. They took the two others, cut them in two 
lengthwise, and hung the pieces of their bodies on trees by the 
river-side, so that the English should be sure to see them, and 
then set fire to the boat. 

On March 7th, 1637, they killed six colonists and took seven 
prisoners on the Connecticut River, whom they afterwards 
tortured to death. 

The danger had become so great that the Council ordered 
that no man should go to work in the fields or should go on a 
journey, however short, or even to church, without being armed. 
A guard of 14 or 15 soldiers was appointed for every night, the 
drum being beat when they went to the watch. Everyman 
was ordered to have his arms where he could get them at 
the very shortest notice when an alarm was given. The Court 
ordered that le every plantation shall have a muster once a 



i6 

month." Officers to drill the men were appointed, and every 
absentee from the muster, as well as any one who neglected to 
keep his gun in good order, was fined two shillings. In the 
spring of 1636 it had been ordered that " every soldier shall al- 
ways have ready for inspection by the constable two pounds of 
powder and twenty pounds of lead." The town of Windsor was 
obliged to surround itself with a palisado and be at all times 
during the day or night prepared for assault. 

On April 10th, Massachusetts sent Captain Underhill with a 
company of twenty men to strengthen the garrison at Saybrook. 
The Pequots, after this reinforcement, finding that they could 
accomplish nothing by the siege of the fort, determined on an 
attack on Wethersfield, and having made an alliance with the 
neighboring Indians, 200 of them attacked the town on April 
23d, 1637, killing nine persons, among whom were a woman and 
a child. They drove away some horses and cattle, killed some 
of them, and took two young women prisoners. At this time 
Captain Mason, Sergeant Seeley and five others were at Say- 
brook. 100 of these Indians came down the Connecticut River 
in three canoes. They put poles in the canoes and hung the 
clothes of the dead persons on them and passed the fort at Say- 
brook in great triumph. From the fort a cannon shot was fired 
at them, which struck one of the canoes and so frightened them 
that they landed from their canoes, abandoned them and ran 
away. A report, which proved to be false, was circulated by 
the Pequots at this time, that they had slain 60 men in this raid. 

The Indians had now killed no less than 30 of the Connecticut 
colonists, who, all told, numbered not more 250 men. It was 
very plain that if a single tribe could without condign punishment 
commit such outrages, it would not be long before the Indians, 
now friendly, would either join those who were hostile or would 
commence some savage barbarity on their own account. 
There were 1000 fighting men among the Pequots, and if they 
could have made an alliance with the other tribes the colonists 
could easily have been exterminated. 

It was the massacre at Wethersfield which finally decided the 
English to strike a decisive blow. 

On Monday, May 1st, 1637, the General Court of the federated 
towns at Hartford made the following record : "It is ordered 
that there shall be an offensive war against the Pequots, and 



i7 



there shall be ninety men levied out of the three plantations of 
Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield." This was about one-third 
of the whole colony. 42 were to come from Hartford. 30 from 
Windsor, and 18 from Wethersfield. Hartford was to furnish 
14 and Windsor 6 suits of armor. Every soldier was to furnish 
one pound of powder, four of shot, twenty bullets and a light 
musket, "if he could." They were also instructed to take a 
barrel of powder from the fort at Saybrook. The supplies nec- 
essary for the expedition were also levied on each town. Wind- 
sor was to furnish a supply of 60 bushels of corn, 50 pieces of 
pork, 30 pounds of rice and 4 cheeses. Hartford, 84 bushels of 
corn, 3 firkins of suet, 2 firkins of butter, 4 bushels of oatmeal, 
2 bushels of peas, 500 pounds of fish, 2 bushels of salt. Wethers- 
field, 1 bushel of Indian beans and 36 bushels of corn. The 
corn was to be ground and one-half of it was to be made into 
biscuits. There was ordered " one hogshead of good beer for 
the Captain and minister and sick men, and if there be only 
three or four gallons of strong water, two gallons of sack." The 
expedition was to be commanded by Captain John Mason. By 
May 10th the ninety men had been raised. 

Connecticut had appealed for aid to Massachusetts and Ply- 
mouth, and in a special session of the General Court, which met 
on Monday, May 1st, 1637, in which no other business was trans- 
acted, a levy of men was ordered to aid the Connecticut colonists, 
and 600 pounds sterling voted for their maintenance. Massachu- 
setts agreed to raise 160 men, who were to be commanded by 
Captain Patrick. Plymouth was to send 50 men. They induced 
some of the Narragansetts and some of the minor tribes to join 
them. Thirty of these men were to be sent for land service, and 
as many others as were required to man the vessels. 

Massachusetts was at this time agitated by the Antinomian 
controversy. At the present day such a discussion would be dis- 
missed at once as trivial, but in this instance it was combined 
with a political issue which gave it importance. The theological 
struggle was between Ann Hutchinson and John Wilson. The 
political one was between Vane and Winthrop. Both wished to 
secure John Cotton, who at that time sympathized with those 
who accepted a "covenant of grace," and insisted that the others 
were under a " covenant of works." On the 17th of January 
a solemn fast had been ordered on account of the miserable 



i8 

state of the churches and the growing Pequot troubles and the 
dissensions at home. In the sermon of that day, those who were 
supposed to be e< walking under a covenant of works" were very 
sharply arraigned, which occasioned much dissension and dis- 
cussion. The election followed in May, 1637, and was one of 
great excitement. Vane was defeated. Party feeling ran so high 
that the usual ceremony of the escorting of the Govenor did not 
take place, as the escort refused to accompany Winthrop. 

It was shortly after this that Boston was called upon to supply 
its proportion of the soldiers for the Pequot war. Not a single 
church member would answer to the call for military service, 
because they declared that Wilson, who had been selected as 
Chaplain, was "walking under a covenant of works." The military 
service asked of them was specially dangerous, and it is not im- 
probable that a prudent care of their own lives had something 
to do with their decision, but nevertheless, this dissension in 
the Boston churches greatly increased the difficulty of raising 
the force which was to go against the Pequots. 120 soldiers 
were sent under Captain, afterwards General, Stoughton, with 
the Rev. Mr. Wilson as their Chaplain. Wilson was ordered to 
return and did so. This force marched by way of Providence 
and was received by Roger Williams, who went with them to 
establish mutual confidence between them and the Narragansetts, 
but they arrived too late to be of any service in the taking of the 
Pequot fort. 

Captain Mason's orders were that he should go down the 
Connecticut River to Saybrook, consult with Captain Gardiner, 
the commander of the fort there, about reinforcements, and 
then sail directly up the sound and ascend the Pequot River 
and attack the Indians in their stronghold. 

The Pequots had two very strong forts. One was called the 
Mystic fort, which was in the present town of Stonington, on the 
west side of the Mystic River. It was situated on the top of a 
high hill, which slopes gradually to the river, which is less than 
a mile from the fort, about three miles from the village of Mystic 
in the town of Stonington. It was in the eastern part of the 
Pequot dominions and was maintained by them as a defence 
against the Narragansetts. It was in a very commanding posi- 
tion and was built of wood. Five or six hundred Pequot Indians 
were in this fort and had strengthened it with palisadoes. They 



i9 



also had another fort about twelve miles west of this in the town 
of Groton, which was filled with Indians under a celebrated 
chief, Sassacus, from which the Mystic fort had been recruited 
on the night before the attack. 

The Dutch had furnished the Pequots with guns and ammuni- 
tion and it was reported at that time that they were in actual 
possession of 19 guns of considerable calibre and of all the am- 
munition that was necessary for their use. They had not, how- 
ever, acquired skill in using them. They had besides an abun- 
dance of small hatchets, or tomahawks, war clubs with stone 
heads, and other implements of Indian warfare. 

The Connecticut troops rendezvoused at Hartford on May 
10th, 1637. Before starting, a night was spent in prayer for the 
success of the expedition. They embarked at Hartford in "a 
pink, a pinnace and a shallop." There were 90 whites from the 
plantations and 70 Mohegan Indians under Uncas; 160 in all. 

John Mason, of Windsor, was appointed Captain of the army, 
the Rev. Mr. Stone, Chaplain, and Dr. Thomas Pell, of Saybrook 
Fort, Surgeon. Mr. Pynchon was the owner of the shallop, 
which was taken by force, but Captain Mason afterwards apolo- 
gized to him for taking it without leave, because it was a mili- 
tary necessity. 

Captain John Mason was one of those who came over in the 
Mary and John with the Dorchester people. He emigrated from 
Dorchester with those who went to Windsor. He had received 
his military training in the war in the Netherlands under Sir 
Thomas Fairfax, who, during the war between the Parliaments 
and Charles I, had solicited Captain Mason to join him, but he 
declined. After the war he was made a Major General and com- 
mander of all the Connecticut forces. He was afterwards made 
deputy governor of the colony. 

On the way down the Connecticut River the vessels grounded 
several times, as the water in the river was low. This made the 
Indians impatient and they demanded to be set on shore, promis- 
ing to meet the party at Saybrook, which they did, having met a 
party of thirty or forty Pequots not far from the fort, of whom 
they killed seven. Captain Mason arrived on Wednesday with 
his party at Saybrook, where they were weather-bound until 
Friday. When he conferred with Captain Gardiner, they agreed 
that some of the men who had been sent by the authorities were 



20 



totally unfitted for such an expedition, and Captain Gardiner at 
first refused to allow any of his men to accompany them, as he 
considered that the lives of all would be jeopardized if he did. 
They at last agreed that twenty men of the expedition were to be 
returned to Hartford, and Captain Underhill, with Captain 
Gardiner's permission, volunteered to go v/ith Captain Mason 
with twenty of the best men that they had at Saybrook. 

Captain Gardiner, who had been in command of the fort so 
long, had had such bitter experience with the Indians that he 
distrusted the Mohegans and feared their treachery, and al- 
though he was told what they had done while they were coming 
down the river, he was still incredulous and was not willing that 
any of his men should go with them without putting them to a 
further test. He called Uncas to him and told him that six 
Pequots had left there the day before, he thought with murder- 
ous designs, and if he was to be allowed to go with the expedi- 
tion he must bring these six Pequots back, dead or alive. Uncas 
sent a party back after them. They killed five, whose heads 
they brought with them, and took one prisoner. This man was 
a spy of Sassacus and had been present at most of the murders. 
He had been at one time in the employ of Captain Gardiner and 
had learned some English. He defied them, saying that he was 
a Pequotand they dared not kill him. The colonists were so 
enraged at him, as he had so often acted the traitor, that they 
tied one of his legs to a stake, and fastening a rope to the 
other one, twenty men took hold of it and literally tore him to 
pieces. The infuriated Indians cut out pieces of his body, 
roasted them and ate them with great satisfaction. Captain 
Gardiner was satisfied with the loyalty of the Mohegans, and 
Uncas and his band were allowed to go with the party. 

While they were all at Saybrook, a Dutch vessel came into 
the port on her way to trade with the Pequots. They were 
told that they would not be allowed under any circumstances 
to do so. They then promised, if allowed to go on, that they 
would secure from the Pequots the two girls who had been taken 
captive at Wethersfield and return them to the English. On 
this condition they were allowed to go on. They succeeded in 
gaining possession of the girls by stratagem, as the Pequots 
were not willing to surrender them. They were returned to 
their friends by the Dutch, which was a friendly act. 



Captain Mason's orders were to sail up the Pequot River 
and attack the Indians from the west. The number of the 
Pequots greatly exceeded his own ; he had been informed that 
they had sixteen large guns with plenty of ammunition; they 
kept a vigilant watch and guard upon their river, so that there 
was no probability of approaching them from that direction 
unobserved; and they were fully informed of what was going 
on and would be forewarned of his coming. Captain Mason 
thought it was best to make the attack from the east side. His 
men opposed this plan, as the attack from the east would take a 
much longer time and they did not wish to leave their families 
so long unprotected. Finding himself entirely alone, Captain 
Mason proposed to refer the decision to the Chaplain, and re- 
quested him to seek Divine aid during the night. In the morn- 
ing the Chaplain declared that the Captain's plan was the cor- 
rect one, and the council of war immediately adopted it. It was 
an undoubted breach of military discipline, but the plan proved 
to be the only one that could have been adopted with safety or 
any chance of success. 

The three small vessels which composed the fleet started on 
Friday morning for Narragansett. On Saturday evening they 
reached the point where they were to land, near the entrance to 
Narragansett Bay, at the foot of what is known as Tower Hill, 
overlooking Point Judith. Narragansett Bay was the eastern 
boundary of Ninigret's dominions and was about 45 miles from 
the nearest Pequot fort. They did not disembark, spending the 
Sabbath on their vessels. On Monday a strong northeast wind 
prevented their landing. This did not abate until Tuesday at 
sunset, when it became calmer. They then left their vessels, 
giving their captains directions to wait for them at the mouth of 
the Pequot River. 

By some means the Pequots had learned of the expedition and 
had strengthened their fortifications on the west side and kept 
constant guards on the river, day and night. They expected the 
expedition to come up the Pequot River, as Captain Mason had 
been directed to do, and seeing the vessels pass the mouth of 
the river, they supposed that it was the fear of their prowess that 
made the soldiers afraid to land, and they were lulled into com- 
plete security. 

The party landed on Tuesday evening, May 23d, and marched 



22 



about five miles inland, where was the largest Narragansett fort, 
which was also the residence of Canonicus, the Narragansett 
sachem, who was there with his under chief, Miantonomo. 
Captain Mason apologized to him for marching through his 
country without previously giving him notice and asking his per- 
mission, and declared his purpose of making war on the Pequots. 
He recounted all the wrongs that these Indians had done to the 
colonists and told him how they had started on this expedition 
to avenge them. Canonicus received them kindly, admitted that 
they were right in coming, " that he approved of their design, 
but warned him that he thought that their numbers were too 
small to deal with the Pequots, who were many hundred strong, 
crafty warriors of great power, great captains and very skillful 
in war, and were securely entrenched in two forts." He showed 
them that he was very doubtful of the success of the expedition, 
but he gave them full permission to cross the country. The 
distance from there to the Pequot fort, which was near where 
the present town of Stonington now stands, was about 25 miles, 
but the circuitous route that they were obliged to take made it 
nearly 45 miles. 

On Wednesday, Captain Mason started with 60 frightened 
Mohegans and 400 terrified Narragansetts and Niantics. After 
a day's march of 18 or 20 miles, they reached Niantic, on the 
Pequot frontier, where there was a Narragansett fort. The 
Indians here were not friendly and would not permit the colo- 
nists to enter their fort. The English placed a guard around the 
fort in order that none of the Indians might be able to come out 
of it during the night to carry the news of their coming to the 
Pequots. Here they passed the night of Wednesday. In the 
meantime a messenger came from Captain Patrick, who was at 
Providence with 40 men, a part of the force that was to be sent 
by Massachusetts. He asked Captain Mason to wait until he 
could join him, but did not say when he would come. As secrecy 
and haste were so much more important than numbers, Captain 
Mason determined to push on without these reinforcements. In 
the morning a few of the Indians in the fort came out and 
offered to go with them. They all made the boldest assertions 
as to how brave they were and how gallantly they would fight 
and asserted that they were ready to kill any Pequot on sight. 

When they started again, about 8 o'clock on Thursday morning, 



2 3 



they had not far from 500 Indians with them, including the river 
Indians with whom they had set out, but they were in constant 
fear of their treachery. 

They went 12 miles to the ford on the Pawcatuck River, where 
the Indians said the Pequots were accustomed to fish. The heat 
of the weather was very great. They were short of provisions 
and had only one pint of spirits in case of need for the entire 
army. They made a halt there for some time to rest. The 
Narragansett Indians showed themselves so very much afraid 
that many of them went back, although they had jeered at the 
whites, saying that they themselves were going to do great 
things, though the white men would not dare to look at a Pequot. 

Unc'as was asked what he thought the Indians would do, and 
he replied that the Narragansetts would all leave, but as for 
himself he would never do so, and so it proved. 

Towards night on Thursday they marched to a place five 
miles northwest of Stonington and two or three miles from the 
principal Pequot fort. A little further on they came to a field 
where Indian corn had been planted. A halt was made and a 
council called. Captain Mason's original design had been to 
assault both forts at once, but finding that the distance between 
them was so great, this plan was abandoned and he determined 
to concentrate his forces in an attack on the larger or Mystic 
fort. This had been reinforced the night before by 150 Pequots 
from the other fort. The Pequots had formed a plot to destroy 
all the English, which was to be immediately carried out, and, 
unconscious of the presence of the expedition, they were singing, 
dancing and rejoicing and otherwise celebrating the great victory 
they were about to gain over their enemies. They had seen the 
vessels approaching the Pequot River, but as the party did not 
land and they had lost sight of the vessels, they supposed they 
had turned back because they were afraid to meet them. Hence, 
their rejoicing over what they considered a victory already 
gained. They designed to start on this expedition and to ac- 
complish the destruction of the English the next day, but they 
all perished together. 

On finding themselves so near the fort, the Niantics and 
Narragansetts became " possessed with great fear." Of the 500 
Indians who set out on the march in the morning, fully half had 
fled, and the rest would have followed if Captain Underhill had 



2 4 



not upbraided them with their cowardice and promised that 
they should not come within shot of the fort, but only surround 
it at a distance and see whether the English would fight. Of 
the 90 soldiers drafted for the expedition, there were only 77 
available for the battle, as the others were needed for guarding 
the vessels and supplies. 

Coming to a little swamp between two hills, the colonists 
pitched their camp for the night. The soldiers were very weary 
and travel-worn. As they were so near the fort, they were 
obliged to keep very quiet. It was evident that no alarm had 
been given, for the sentinels could hear the noisy reveling of the 
Pequots within their palisado, which was kept up until after 
midnight. On account of the fatigue of Mason's men, they slept 
very soundly. The night was unusually clear, and when he 
roused himself and them it was so light that Captain Mason 
feared that he might be too late to surprise the fort, but he still 
found time to call his men to prayer and spend some time 
about it. They started about two hours before daybreak, in the 
bright moonlight, towards the fort, which was about two miles 
distant. Captain John Mason with a part of his men approached 
it from the northeast side, and Captain Underhill with the re- 
mainder of the force from the southwest. 

The Mystic fort was made up of two semicircles of the same 
diameter, whose centres were removed about four feet the one 
from the other, and whose ends passed each other in such a way 
as to leave two openings, making a passage-way of about four 
feet wide and four or five feet long on the opposite sides of it. 
It enclosed a little more than two acres of ground. The palisade 
was made by driving large trees three feet into the ground, the 
trunks set so close that no one could pass between them. These 
were set to the height of about twelve feet. Behind them smaller 
trees were placed, which were securely fastened together and 
banked with earth. Loopholes were left in the wood, so that 
the Indians could shoot their arrows from the inside with com- 
paratively little danger of receiving harm from the outside. 
The wigwams, of which there were about 70, were arranged in 
streets, which were very nearly parallel to the diameter of both 
half circles. They were covered with a very combustible mat- 
ting. It was impossible to enter except by the two openings, 
and for greater defence these openings were filled with branches 
of trees. 



25 



The attacking party found the Pequots entirely unprepared. 
It was intended to attack both entrances at once, Captain Mason 
going to the northeast side, and as he was within a rod of it, a 
dog barked, which caused the Indians to cry out. Surrounding 
the fort, the soldiers fired several volleys through the openings 
in the palisade. Coming at that hour and so unexpectedly and 
from a direction they had not anticipated, the Indians, who had 
been excessively fatigued by the orgies of the night before, 
awaking out of a sound sleep, were so terrified that they lost 
both courage and wisdom and at first could only utter doleful 
cries. The southwest entrance was blocked with trees and 
branches, so as to form a rude abattis. The tops of the trees 
and the ends of the branches were turned outwards, and the 
trunks and ends buried with rocks and earth. If the obstruc- 
tion had been defended from the inside, it would have been a 
very efficient barrier. The trees were, however, pulled out, so 
that the colonists had an unobstructed entrance into the fort. 

At first it had been intended to destroy the savages by the 
sword and save the plunder. But the palisado was so crowded 
with wigwams that it was almost impossible to fight or even to 
find room to grapple with the Indians, so Captain Mason deter- 
mined to burn it. Going into one of the wigwams, he brought 
out a firebrand and placed it on one of the mats with which the 
wigwams were covered, and ordered one of the soldiers to throw 
gunpowder upon it. Captain Underhill, on the other side of the 
fort, followed his example. This was done so suddenly and the 
fire communicated itself so quickly to the other wigwams, on 
account of a wind favorable to it, that in a few moments the 
whole palisado was burning. When the fort had been fired, 
orders were given that it should be surrounded. Only one Eng- 
lishman had been so wounded that he could not move out of the 
fort without help, but he was happily rescued. 

Until the fire, the Pequots fought desperately and did con- 
siderable execution with their bows and arrows, wounding 
several of the soldiers; but as soon as the wigwams commenced 
to burn and the smoke became blinding and the fire hot, they 
were seized with a great terror and were so confused that many 
of them even ran into the flames and were burned to death, suf- 
fering the dreadful torture they were so fond of inflicting on the 
colonists. Some of them climbed to the top of the palisado, 



26 



others shot wildly and without aim with their arrows, and about 
forty came out and were killed. Some of them fought with 
great courage to the end. Their bravery excited the admiration 
of the colonists, who said, <; Mercy they did deserve for their 
valor," but none was given them, for the colonists believed that 
they had sufficient light from the Word of God for their pro- 
ceedings in this matter. The fire was so hot that it burned the 
bow-strings of the Indians and left them defenceless. In their 
helpless condition, pity might have prevented the indiscriminate 
slaughter, but the remembrance of the agonies which they had 
caused some of the colonists to suffer, the tortures which they 
had inflicted and the danger to which helpless women and 
children were exposed by their atrocities, hardened the hearts 
of the English; nor is it at all sure, if pity had been shown, that 
it would not have been abused to the disadvantage of the colo- 
nists. A few of the Pequots succeeded in escaping, but most of 
these were caught and tomahawked by the Narragansetts, who, 
although they were afraid to take the risks of the fight, were 
eager to slay the fugitives. Seven only were taken captive and 
perhaps a like number escaped. The colonists lost two killed, 
one of whom was probably accidentally shot by one of their own 
men, and twenty wounded, all of whom, so far as can be ascer- 
tained, subsequently recovered. The Narragansetts reported 
that 700 Pequots had been slain and 13 sachems, but that there 
still remained 13 other sachems. Mason's estimate of the slain 
was "more than 600." The whole work was done in about an 
hour, before the sun was high. In less than twelve hours after 
their songs of rejoicing and their boastful assertions that they 
would destroy the English, the end of the Pequot nation came. 

Though victorious, Captain Mason found himself after the 
fight in a critical condition. His supply of food and ammuni- 
tion was nearly gone, and after the battle many of the men 
fainted by reason of the heat and from hunger and exhaustion. 
The Surgeon of the expedition had remained with the fleet at 
Narragansett. He was sorely needed, and the wounded soldiers 
suffered much on account of his absence. They were in an 
enemy's country, who far exceeded them in number. All the 
Indian allies, except Uncas and his band, seemed to have deserted 
them. The ships which contained their supplies were supposed 
to be at a great distance and it was uncertain when they would 



27 



come. Four or five of the soldiers were so wounded that they 
had to be carried, and all the men were so exhausted that it took 
four of them to carry each one. Hiring his Indian allies to 
carry the wounded, who with their bearers amounted to half the 
force under his command, Captain Mason started for Pequot 
Harbor, where he had arranged to meet the fleet. 

They were barely on their way, when a band of 200 or 300 
Pequots appeared, who had come from the smaller fort, which 
was commanded by Sassacus. When they saw what had been 
done at Mystic, they stamped and tore their hair and were in a 
great rage. They rushed down the hill upon the troops in full 
force, as if to attack them, but when they came within shot they 
faced about as the troops fired upon them and some of their 
number fell. After several such attacks they drew back, and 
the colonists rested for a little beside the brook at the foot of the 
hill. When they started again for the harbor, the Pequots fol- 
lowed in the rear, hiding behind the rocks and trees, and con- 
tinued shooting their arrows, but did little harm. A few of them 
were killed, but the soldiers could not do much for want of am- 
munition. The Indian allies, who in mortal terror had refused 
to advance, were ready enough to retreat, but found sufficient 
courage to decapitate those of the Pequots who were shot by 
the English. 

The colonists marched to the top of the hill near the harbor 
with their colors flying and their drums beating. From the top 
of this hill, which overlooked the harbor, they saw the vessels 
lying at anchor which they had left at Narragansett. The Pe- 
quots discovered the fleet at the same time, and abandoned the 
pursuit. 

Orders had been left with the vessels to sail from Narragansett 
Bay a little after midnight on the day the fort was attacked, so 
that they should meet the expedition in the morning. Great 
anxiety had been felt for fear they might not arrive, as the pro- 
visions and ammunition had been left in the boats. The wind 
at first had been so unfavorable that they could not sail. A 
sudden and favorable change in the wind made it possible for 
them to start, and while the colonists were consulting as to the 
best course to be taken, to their great joy and surprise the ves- 
sels came into the harbor. They had hardly reached their an- 
chorage before there was another unfavorable change in the 



28 



wind, which lasted a long time. Had it occurred before they 
could reach the harbor, the soldiers would have been entirely at 
the mercy of the Indians, for it was nearly dark and they were 
faint from want of food, and they had exhausted their ammu- 
nition in holding the Pequots at bay. 

When they arrived at the shore, they found Captain Patrick 
and his forty men from Massachusetts. He was much offended 
that he had not been waited for, as well as mortified by the suc- 
cess of Captain Mason, because he could not claim any share in 
the victory. He could not at first be induced to land his men, 
so that the wounded could be carried on board, although he had 
one of the boats belonging to the Connecticut people. It was 
finally arranged that the wounded men should be taken by one 
of the vessels to Saybrook, five leagues distant, and that the 
vessel should then return to convey the Narragansett Indians to 
their territory by sea under the care of Captain Patrick. Cap- 
tain Underhill took command of the vessel containing the 
wounded and set sail for Saybrook. Before he was fairly out 
of sight, however, Captain Patrick declined to keep his part of 
the agreement, and said he must remain where he was to await 
the Massachusetts troops, who were to rendezvous at Pequot 
Harbor. The soldiers therefore went ashore and started on the 
march to Saybrook with their Indian allies. As soon as they had 
disembarked, Captain Patrick, to the disgust of the colonists, 
came on shore and insisted upon accompanying them, although 
they had repeatedly told him he was not welcome. 

About midway between that place and Saybrook, they came 
upon the Niantic Indians, who belonged to the Pequots, and 
who fled to a swamp. They were pursued for a little while, as 
long as they kept together, but when they scattered for refuge, 
the pursuit was abandoned, as it was Saturday afternoon, and 
the party hastened toward Saybrook, arriving at the Connec- 
ticut River about sunset on Saturday. They came only to the 
river side and were obliged to stay there over night, in order to 
provide for the transportation of the Narragansetts. They did 
not reach Saybrook until the next day, where they were "nobly 
entertained by Lieutenant Gardiner with many great guns/' 

The remnant of the Pequot Indians, on returning to their 
fort, held a council. Sassacus wished to collect his warriors 
and pursue the English, but they denounced him as the cause of 



2 9 



all their misfortunes, and it is said that he was obliged to flee 
for his life from his own tribe. Many of the warriors were 
eager for revenge on the Narragansetts, but they were so re- 
duced in numbers that they soon saw how powerless they were 
to resist their enemies, and breaking into scattered bands, they 
fled across the country to the west or hid themselves in the 
swamps and forests. The main body, encumbered with the 
women and children, moved very slowly, following the line of 
the shore, having to depend almost entirely upon shellfish for 
their food. Another division went further back into the country. 
Their movements were closely watched by Mohegan and Narra- 
gansett scouts. 

About a month after the battle at Mystic fort, Captain 
Stoughton, with several vessels and 120 men from Massachusetts, 
arrived at Pequot Harbor and was joined by Captain Patrick. 
The Connecticut colony, being informed of their arrival, sent 
Captain Mason with forty men to meet them. They held a con- 
sultation in Pequot Harbor to determine what course to pursue. 

From the Mohegans it was learned that there was a consider- 
able party of Pequots some twelve miles up the river. These 
were captured without difficulty, 104 being taken. 24 of them 
were warriors, of whom 22 were executed at once. Two were 
spared on condition that they should guide the colonists to the 
place where Sassacus was hiding. As they were either unable 
or unwilling to do this, they were also executed. 33 of the 80 
women and children were given to the Indian allies of the colo- 
nists, and the remainder were sent to Boston to be sold as slaves. 

Not far from New Haven, one of the Mohegans captured a 
Pequot sachem and beheaded him and put his head on a pole on 
the shore, and the place has ever since been called Sachem's Head. 

After some discussion it was determined to follow the main 
body of the Pequots, who had fled across the country toward 
Manhattan, apparently with the intention of joining the Mohawks 
on the Hudson. 

In about three days the troops arrived at New Haven Harbor, 
where they learned from a Pequot captive that the main body 
of the fugitives were a short distance further to the west. He 
agreed to guide them to the place on condition that his life should 
be spared and that of his two kinsmen. He led them to a place 
in the vicinity of what is now Fairfield, where the Pequots had 



3° 



imposed themselves upon a local tribe and were living with them 
in their villages. When the troops came upon them they fled from 
the village and crowded into a swamp about a mile in circumfer- 
ence and divided by a narrow strip of land into two unequal 
portions. There were about 80 Pequot warriors and 200 others, 
with women and children. They were surrounded and com- 
pelled to retire into the smaller part of the swamp. It was such a 
quagmire and so thick with bushes that it was almost inacces- 
sible. There was great difference of opinion as to how the attack 
should be made. Some wished to cut the bushes down, others 
to palisado the swamp, and many other plans were proposed. 
The Indians were said to have obtained guns and ammunition 
from the Dutch, which made them more formidable, and it was 
finally decided to parley with them. A colonist who understood 
the Indian language was sent into the swamp to treat with them. 
They were told that their lives would be spared if they would 
give up the murderers who were known to be among them. 
The sachem of the local tribe came out with 200 old men, women 
and children, many of whom brought a small present and laid it 
down before the colonists. They gave themselves up to the Eng- 
lish without reserve. Their sachem offered, if their lives were 
spared, to give up the whole of his property which he said was 
nothing but the bearskin coat which he had on his back. The 
colonists agreed to spare the lives of all except those who had 
murdered Englismen, and the interpreter was commissioned to 
tell the Indians that it would be better for them to surrender and 
give up the murderers, which they refused to do, saying that as 
they had lived together they would die together. They attacked 
the messenger and wounded him so severely that he was rescued 
with great difficulty and barely escaped with his life. 

There were now 70 or 80 Indians in the swamp and among 
them twelve guilty of English blood. The troops surrounded 
the swamp and fired at the Indians, who returned their fire. As 
night came on and they could not fight to any purpose, the 
swamp was closely watched and, as the colonists thought, se- 
curely guarded. About an hour before daybreak, 60 or 70 of 
the Indians attempted to break through the lines and were 
several times beaten back. In the morning it grew very dark on 
account of a fog, which became so very dense that the Indians 
broke through Captain Patrick's lines on the further side of the 



3i 



swamp and escaped. When the swamp was searched, some 
wounded, but very few dead, Indians were found. 

Of those who had been taken captive, 180 women and children 
were divided between Massachusetts and Connecticut, to be used 
as servants, but very few of them remained any length of time 
with their captors. Fifteen boys were sent to Bermuda to be 
sold as slaves. Among the women taken captive was the wife 
of Mononotto and two of her children with her, and for this 
reason it was supposed that Mononotto commanded the Indians 
in the swamp. The wife of Mononotto had befriended the girls 
who had been taken captive by the Pequots at Wethersfield, and 
she was kindly treated by the colonists. 

Sassacus and twenty of his warriors, supposed to comprise the 
party who fled across the country further inland, succeeded in 
reaching the Mohawks, but the Mohawks put them to death and 
sent their scalps as a peace offering to Boston, where they were 
displayed as trophies, Roger Williams being the only one who 
protested against the barbarous exhibition. 

Captain Mason and Captain Patrick commanded the troops 
in the fight at Fairfield swamp, which took place in June, 1637. 
A party of the Massachusetts men under Captain Stoughton re- 
mained in the Pequot country until about the last of August, 
destroying the Indian crops and preventing the fugitives from 
returning to their former homes. About August 20th they set 
sail for Boston, landing at Block Island, where they burned the 
wigwams and destroyed the crops with useless cruelty. On the 
26th they arrived at Boston and were feasted with great rejoic- 
ing, although they had taken but a small part in the war. 

After their defeat at Fairfield, the Pequots who remained alive 
were scattered over the country. None of the other tribes dared 
to receive them under any conditions, and they became so 
demoralized that they would allow one man to capture a party 
of several of them. A price was set upon their heads, which 
were for some time brought in almost daily to Hartford, Wind- 
sor and Wethersfield. Underhill estimates that 1500 were killed 
in the course of two months. 

In 1638 they offered through one of their chiefs to become 
vassals of the English if their lives were spared. The colonists 
agreed to this, and Uncas and Miantonomo were sent for and 
met them at Hartford on the 21st of September, 1638. The 



32 



Pequots there stated that not more than 180 or 200 of their tribe 
were left. They were then bound by a covenant that none of 
them should inhabit their native country. They were forced to 
drop their own name and become a part of the Mohegan or 
Narragansett tribe. 80 of them were allotted to Uncas, 80 to 
Miantonomo, and 20 to Ninigret, and their lands became the 
property of Connecticut. 

In the following spring, a part of the tribe went back to the 
Pequot country and planted corn and settled there. The colony, 
fearing that great trouble might come from this violation of the 
treaty, sent 4 o men under Captain Mason to drive them out. 
Uncas sent 100 of his men in 20 canoes to assist. It was the 
time of the Indian harvest. A great deal of corn was taken, 
which was loaded by the Mohegans into their canoes and 30 
others which they took from the Pequots, together with much 
other Indian property, such as kettles, trays and mats. They 
burned all the wigwams and destroyed what they could not 
carry away. At least 300 Pequots collected and looked on at 
the destruction of their wigwams and supplies, scarcely offering 
any resistance except when the troops tried to cut off their re- 
treat to the woods. They said that they would not fight Captain 
Mason, for the English were spirits and could not be vanquished. 
At last they all ran away, and the expedition returned to Wind- 
sor laden with spoils. 

The winter of 1637-38 was a very severe one in Connecticut. 
The snow lay on the ground from November 4 th to March 23d, 
and was sometimes four or five feet deep. Provisions were ex- 
ceedingly scare, as the war had broken out at planting time and 
prevented the raising of the usual crops. Most of the able-bodied 
men took part in the war, and there were so few left in the settle- 
ments to do the constant guard duty which was necessary, that 
they were worn out with fatigue, and by the time the expedition 
returned many of them were not able to stand. The people at 
Windsor were obliged to guard their palisado night and day to 
prevent the Indians climbing over or setting fire to it. lne 
danger was so great that all those above 16 years of age were 
compelled to bear arms unless excused by the Court. When the 
soldiers returned, it was so late in the season and the sick and 
wounded were so long in recovering, that very little planting 
could be done. 



33 



Every soldier who had taken part in the expedition received 
a shilling and sixpence a day for six days of the week ; sergeants 
received * o pence a day, lientenants so shillings a week and the 
Captain 40 shillings. Each man received a grant of land The 
Connecticut Court made Captain Mason a Major General and 
gave him command of all the Connecticut forces, which rank he 
held until his death in the 73d year of his age. 

The General Assembly of Connecticut, in order that the 
Pequot name should be forever blotted out, ordered that the 
Pequot River should be called the Thames River, and the town 
of Pequot should be called New London, which names they still 



retain. 



For many years there was a remnant of the Pequot tribe m 
the town of Groton. They owned about 1100 acres of poor 
land, on which they lived. They became mixed with negro 
and white blood, but to the last remained a very vicious people 
and retained their hatred of their traditional enemies, the Mo- 
hegans and Narragansetts. 

After the Pequot war, the country remained at peace for nearly 
,0 vears. Murders were committed by the Indians from time to 
time, but there was no general massacre or desolation of the 
country until after the Indians had obtained firearms and become 
skillful in their use. It was not until the generation following, 
which did not remember either Mason or Underhill, that there 
was any concerted attack upon the English. The Indians had 
never heard of so terrible a vengeance The Pequots had for- 
merly been a name of terror and the English succeeded to their 
heritage Connecticut was saved. The inland settlements were 
no longer separated from those on the coast, and all were 
brought into easy communication with the other colonies. 

The colonists have been severely criticised for the cruelty 
with which they carried on the Pequot War, but it must be re- 
membered that it was a question of killing or being killed. 
There is every probabilitv that but for the intervention of Roger 
Williams the fortunes of the war would have been reversed and 
the colonists themselves would have been exterminated. The 
extinction of the Pequot tribe was the only condition under 
which the colonists could remain in the country. 



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